Wokingham Borough Council has shared an update on plans to provide a permanent home for Twyford Library at the town’s Old Polehampton Boys School.
Contractors have now set the site up, groundwork investigations have been carried out and work on laying the foundations for a modest new single-storey extension is now ready to begin.
The work also includes an accessible entrance and they’re planning to make the premises as energy efficient as possible, given the constraints of the Grade II listed building and the site.
The former school is one of the borough’s most historic buildings, and they hope to give it a new lease of life as a library that residents have long campaigned for, as well as a hub for the community.
They are leasing the building for 99 years at a ‘peppercorn (very low) rent from the Polehampton Trust, which owns it.
The relocation of the library to a new home follows a 20-year campaign as well as the allocation of an extra £330,000 towards the work. The funding is on top of £720,000 already put aside for the project. The council says this reflects the rising cost of materials and the need to make the new library as energy efficient as possible.
Many people in the village have campaigned over the past 20 years to relocate the library. The school was built to educate boys from the village with money left by Edward Polehampton. And the Polehampton Charity, which is 300 years old, believes the library is a fitting reminder of the legacy that Edward Polehampton left the village.
The project is also an opportunity to bring the listed building at the heart of the village back into use, giving it a long-term future as a community space.
